Chris Gotterup, making his third start this season, is looking for his second win of the year. The free-swinging right-hander had a flawless performance Thursday morning at the 2026 WM Phoenix Open, going bogey-free around TPC Scottsdale and posting an 8-under 63.
Gottarup’s effort was enough to give him a two-stroke lead over Matt Fitzpatrick, who also reached 8 under, but dropped two strokes late in the round. A trio of up-and-coming young stars Michael Thorbjornsen, Nikolaj Højgaard and Pierceson Coody, and Sam Stevens are one spot further back at five under.
“I think there was a sense at the start of the year that we worked hard in the offseason to prepare for the season,” Gotterup said. “Even in TGL in the offseason, getting used to the adrenaline there and being able to take shots under pressure helped me and my game. I’m happy to start the year on a good note.”
Gottap played alongside No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who struggled with a 73, his first round over par since June 2025, and Jordan Spieth, who signed with a 70. Gottap picked up steam in the middle of the back nine, starting his round with the par-4 10th. He sank an eagle putt from off the green on the par-5 13th, then connected on three consecutive birdies from 6 to 10 feet.
Gotterup fell short on the par-4 17th as he went up and down for his fifth consecutive par break, but quickly recovered with a 25-foot birdie on the 18th to finish at 6 under. Moving on to the more difficult front nine, Gottharp managed his game well. He took advantage of his only par 5 (he missed a 7-foot eagle putt) and birdied the par-3 seventh again from distance for his final birdie of the day.
“I feel like I’m doing things well and I’m thinking things through, and I think that’s the most important thing,” Gottap said. “I can’t say I played my best or anything today. My putts were great today, but I was just in the right spot when I needed to be. I had an unbelievable drive and did well. It’s nice to play well and have the other parts make up for it. I’m glad I managed my game properly.”
Gotterup had been chasing Fitzpatrick all morning, but the Englishman appeared to have been cannonballed early on. Fitzpatrick played the first eight holes at 7 under and turned at 29, with the course record (60) being talked about. Like Gotterup, he added a birdie on No. 3, but unlike the leader, he was unable to run all the way to the end and hit bogeys on No. 8 and 9.
“It’s disappointing. The way you look at it is if I start bogey, bogey and finish at 6 under, I feel like the greatest player in the world,” Fitzpatrick said. “So I had to rethink it. If someone had said, ‘You can start the day at 6 under today,’ I could have stayed in bed and grabbed your hand. I’m in a good position to start and hopefully kick on.”
Gottarup and Fitzpatrick benefited from calm conditions Thursday, although the wind picked up as the round progressed and caused problems for the players. Notable scores from the afternoon wave included Hideki Matsuyama’s 68, Viktor Hovland’s 69, Xander Schauffele’s 71, and Brooks Koepka’s 75.
leader
1. Chris Gottapp (-8): Gotterup played nine rounds in 2026 with the following scores: 63, 69, 68, 64, 68, 70, 70, 69, 63. Gotterup, in his third year on the PGA Tour, started the new year as a rookie, so all nine of his performances were under par (even on the difficult Torrey Pines South Course).
The 26-year-old is great at driving the ball, but his iron play and course management have improved tremendously. He chooses his spots wisely, plays to his strengths and never lets himself get ahead of himself. This allows you to highlight your strengths while covering up your weaknesses.
“I looked at the stats from last year and obviously last year was a great year,” Gottapp said. “There were a couple of things that were kind of obvious in terms of missing shots in spots that if I hadn’t looked at the stats I probably would have said I played decent. We worked on it and that was really the only thing…other than regular practice. Those were the things I worked on to prepare for this year.”
contestant
2. Matt Fitzpatrick (-6)
T3. Michael Thorbjornsen, Nikolaj Højgaard, Pierceson Coody, Sam Stevens (-5)
T7. Kevin Roy, Max McGreevey, Daniel Berger, Jake Knapp, Rasmus Neergaard Petersen (-4)
Coody, who split time between the Korn Ferry Tour and the PGA Tour during his rookie season, has started his sophomore season well. The right-hander finished in the top 20 for the third year in a row with a runner-up finish at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open.
To start the year, Coody has taken the top spot in the Aon Swing 5, which will earn him a spot in the next two marquee events, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational, but he’s aiming for even more, as a win would secure even more prize money for the 26-year-old.
“It’s definitely a different place than my rookie year,” Coody said. “I think I missed the first six cuts my rookie year. I obviously didn’t play on the West Coast last year, I didn’t play in Florida, so I knew I was only going to essentially start in the middle of the year.”
“Yeah, it feels really good to be one step up on where I started the last couple of years. Yeah, I know I pushed myself to keep moving the bar and continue to play well and play a little different schedule than I’ve been the last couple of years.”
Updated odds and picks for 2026 WM Phoenix Open
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
- Chris Gotterup: 3-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 8-1
- Pierceson Coody: 14-1
- Michael Thorbjornsen: 14-1
- Nikolai Hugo: 17-1
- Sam Stevens: 17-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 18-1
- Jake Knapp: 18-1
- Scotty Scheffler: 21-1
The waves in the afternoon were more than 0.50 stroke difficult, but Matsuyama still achieved a clean round of 3 under. The two-time tournament champion plodded along, taking advantage of the par-5 and taking advantage of the few scoring chances. His iron play has been great through the first month of the season and he has shown a tendency to pop on these greens in the past.
